State track Day 3 Notebook: Roosevelt senior Angelo Hurtado lives his sweetest dream with hurdles state title

Roosevelt’s Angelo Hurtado jumps over the hurdle in the 4A 300 meter hurdles on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

LAKEWOOD — Nothing could have woke Angelo Hurtado from what could seemingly only be a dream.

In his first competition of the day Saturday morning, Hurtado, a Roosevelt senior, won the first and only state title of his high school career, claiming a boys 110-meter hurdles championship (14.48 seconds) during the third and final day of the Class 4A Track and Field Championships.

He capped his day, and his high school career, with a fifth-place finish in the 300 hurdles (39.64 seconds) at Jefferson County Stadium.

While admitting he was never completely able to find his ideal stride in the 300 hurdles, Hurtado wasn't exactly hanging his head after he stepped off the championship podium for the second time Saturday afternoon.

By winning the 110 hurdles title early in the day, he had already fulfilled a lifelong dream — and, it literally felt like a dream.

"I thought I didn't wake up this morning, to be honest; I thought I was still dreaming," Hurtado said. "It was a great experience. I'm very thankful for it. I just trusted in God's plan."

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Northfield junior Zaire Jackson was second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.59.

When Hurtado lined up in the starting blocks in the afternoon for his second hurdles event, he had every intention of being a dual-champion.

He was the second seed, just as he was for the 110 hurdles, after winning his preliminary heats in both events the previous two days.

But while he ran a perfect race Saturday morning, he was just a bit off-kilter nearly all race in the 300 hurdles.

"I definitely did not run my race," he said. "My steps were off on the first hurdle. I had to readjust, and that just threw off my entire race after that. My stride wasn't as good, and I had to make up for a lot wasted energy correcting my steps."

Hurtado has ascended sharply in the past 12 months. A year ago as a junior, he placed sixth in the 110 hurdles (15.40) and was 11th in the 300 hurdles (40.81).

Pawnee’s Jade Cass jumps in the 1A boys high jump on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

He took nearly a second off his time in the 110 hurdles and more than a second off his 300 hurdles time from last year's state meet.

So, to have two top-5 finishes, including a state title, Saturday: That provides Hurtado one heck of a last high school track memory before he prepares to compete and study business and psychology at Concordia University in Nebraska.

"It will be a day I'll never forget — my last races in high school," Hurtado said. "I just told myself, 'Whatever happens today, happens, and I'm going to go give it my all and leave it on the track.' "

Fighting until the end

Whether it be Hurtado in a pair of hurdles events or shot put throwers senior James Heater (7th, 145' 9") and sophomore Justin Podojil (16th, 124' 6"), Roosevelt battled until its final moments Saturday for that boys team title it coveted.

It finished sixth in the team race with 40 points. Silver Creek hoisted the championship hardware with 60.5 points.

In the weeks leading up to the state meet, Rough Riders coach Daniel Joiner and his athletes spoke of positioning themselves for a state title and doing all they could to fend off a talented field. Even though, they fell short, Hurtado said, they certainly put themselves in position.

"Everyone came out and did the best they could do," he said. "And, that's what matters most."

Briggsdale’s Skyla Miller runs in the 1A girls 100 meter dash on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

DeRock steady

Roosevelt junior Logan DeRock waited nearly three full years for her first state title, and now she'll have two in her trophy case with potentially more in her future.

"I knew I had high standards for this weekend, but I definitely didn't think I would win both of (the titles)," DeRock said.

DeRock said winning the shot put title Thursday went a long way toward giving her the confidence needed to become a multi-time champion just a couple days later.

"I was thinking, 'OK, I can actually do this,' " she said. "It was definitely a confidence booster."

Not Too Shabby

Roosevelt’s Angelo Hurtado jumps over the hurdle in the 4A 300 meter hurdles on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

Coming into state, Pawnee's Jade Cass was focused on high jump.

The Coyotes senior was tied for the top seed, and it just came natural to him.

So a state title from the eight seed in the triple jump served as a surprise even to him.

"That was mind blowing," Cass said. "Triple jump really hasn't been my thing, it just kinda came this weekend.

So coming into Saturday's high jump, his expectations were high. He didn't quite live up to those lofty expectations, taking home silver with a jump of 6' 1".

"Yesterday my goal was to get on the podium," he said. "Today, it was to win it and it didn't quite happen that way. I still got up there, though."

An Eventful Morning

Skyla Miller had herself a busy day Saturday.

The Briggsdale senior competed in four events, taking home a pair of runner-up finishes.

She finished second in the long jump (15' 8.25") and the 400 (1:02.90), and finished sixth in the 100 (13.41) and the 200 (27.85) — all before 1 p.m.

With how taxing that is physically, it may be even more taxing mentally — especially when one of those events is the 400.

Eaton’s Scott Grable jumps in the 3A boys long jump on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

So for Miller, it truly is mind over matter.

"You can literally do anything you put your mind to and if you say you're going to quit, then you're going to," Miller said. "So you just have to have that mentality to dig deep and give it what you want."

Crowded at the Top

Eaton junior Lainee Hauer led a trio of top Weld finishers in the 3A girls 100, joined by her junior teammate Michaela Hill and Platte Valley senior Jacey Reinert.

That wasn't it for Reinert's day. She took home a fourth-place finish in the 200.

She finished in 26 seconds to end her career on a high note.

Seeing Double

Jonathan Rodriguez added another silver medal to his collection with a second-place finish in the 3A boys 400.

The Weld Central junior finished in 50.35 seconds, just slower than his time that earned him the same finish last year.

A consistent 'Cat

Greeley Central's Donovan Salazar took home a pair of fourth-place finishes for the Wildcats.

The senior finished the 4A boys 100 in 10.89 seconds despite the heavy rain, then bounced back just over an hour later to run the 200 in 22.11.

Finishing strong

Windsor's Preston Terwilliger added to the Wizards' list of impressive finishes with a third-place effort in the 4A 400 (50.10).

Terwilliger put together an impressive run down the backstretch to bring home bronze.

Eaton’s Lainee Hauer jumps in the 3A girls long jump on Saturday in the Track and Field Championships at Jefferson County Stadium in Lakewood.

He moved up one position from his fourth seed heading in.

Terwilliger also anchored Windsor's fifth-place 400 relay (43.52). He was joined on the team by senior Jaedyn Traut, senior Brayden Pederson and sophomore Isaiah Salazar.

An adequate encore

Frontier Academy senior Hannah Ellis followed up her state title in the 3A girls 3,200 Thursday with a sixth-place finish in the 1,600 on Saturday.

She finished in 5:15.09. Steamboat Springs sophomore Maggi Congdon won the race in 5:06.52.

Ellis was neck-and-neck with Peak to Peak junior Anna Shults (3rd, 5:07.72) for the lead during the second lap and actually took the lead during the third lap before falling back a bit in the final lap.

The Reds' rather youthful 3A girls 400 team of freshman Jenni Jarnagin, junior Bridget Millett, sophomore Shaylyn Renner and junior Michaela Hill placed fifth with a time of 51.66.

Classical Academy won the race in 50.15.

As a team, Eaton placed sixth with 40 points. Classical Academy won with 110.

A family affair

Greeley West junior Lauren Whyrick placed fifth in the 5A girls shot put with a distance of 37' 9.5".

Her sophomore sister Meghan Whyrick was 16th at 33' 10".

Their sophomore cousin Grace Whyrick was 11th at 35' 7.5".

The Spartans were the only 5A program with three competitors in girls shot put.

Broncos on the run

Platte Valley's quartet of junior Trevon Wehrman, junior Brendan Bunting, sophomore Josh Yancey and senior Kaleb Johnson just missed out on a state title, placing second in the 3A boys 400 relay with a time of 43.68.